Christmas Day set to be the coldest ever with temperatures plummeting to MINUS 10 as getaway is marred by transport chaos

Traditional family walks to help the turkey go down could be off the cards this year as December 25 is set to be the chilliest day this season - and the coldest Christmas ever.

The mercury plummeted to -5.9C (21F) in Glenlivet, Scotland, in 1996, but the Met Office has now warned freezing conditions could see this record smashed tomorrow, with temperatures plunging as low as -10C.

The bleak forecasts came as rail passengers making a getaway today faced reduced services along with the prospect of a similarly miserable return on Boxing Day which promises a string of strikes.

Choristers walk to the chapel at King's College, Cambridge, ahead of the annual Christmas carol concert

Winter hardy punters make their way along a frozen River Cam in Cambridge City centre

Meanwhile, motorists had to contend with icy roads and air passengers were beset by more delays and cancellations.

A number of train companies ran amended timetables, with some services axed on the main London to Scotland routes up the east and west coast.

To add to the misery, union militants
announced cynically-timed strikes designed to hit the post-Christmas
high street sales. They involve London Underground workers demanding
‘triple time’ bonuses, Northern Rail, which serves the North East, and
Arriva Trains Wales.

And as travellers endured yet another bitterly cold morning, weathermen said that should the icy weather continue, the UK could be heading for its coldest December since 1890.

People gather for the St Paul's Christmas carol service on a large screen in Paternoster Square last night

'The lowest daytime temperatures are going to be early in the morning, at about 7am or 8am.

'Tonight has the potential to be the coldest night of this winter so far and it is possible that tomorrow will be the coldest day.

'There is also the potential for it to be extremely icy. Although there will not be much snow falling generally, we are expecting one of those really cold, crisp days.'

The warmest part of the UK is likely to be the South East, but even in London, the mercury is unlikely to rise above 3C.

'This is certainly the coldest December since 1981 but where it stands in the all-time cold Decembers rather depends on what happens in the next few days,' said Steven Davenport, a senior forecaster at MeteoGroup, the weather division of the Press Association.

'This December has the potential to be the coldest since 1890 when the central England temperature (an average for the month) was as low as minus 0.8C (30F).

'But a system is moving in from the Atlantic that will bring less cold air. This could lead to heavy and prolonged snow on the night of Boxing Day and into next Monday but after that temperatures in south-west England, and possibly London, could be as high as 10C (50F) by Wednesday.'

The Highways Agency warned
drivers to expect widespread frost tonight, as temperatures fall across
the country, hitting a possibly -20 in Shawbury, Shropshire.

The chaos came as investigations
began into how the air, road and rail systems collapsed after a forecast
bout of snow and icy weather.

On the railways, the knock-on effect
of the big freeze fiasco means passengers have been squeezed on to
overcrowded trains – and in some cases denied access to carriages – so
that train companies could reduce the timetable and run what they termed
a more reliable or ‘robust’ service.

Bob Crow, leader of the RMT transport union, said: 'It's a scandal that the private train operating companies can simply chop 25% of their services, install a 'special' timetable and avoid financial penalty.'

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However many are set to suffer more misery when the militant union’s members on Northern Rail strike on December 27
and 28 in a row over Bank Holiday overtime pay. Managing director Ian
Bevan said the company hoped to keep up to 40 per cent of services
running but disruption was inevitable.

Those hitting the London sales
will also be hit by a strike by Underground drivers on Boxing Day which is to
go ahead after the company lost a legal challenge last night. Members of the drivers’ union Aslef
will stage a 24-hour walkout over a claim for triple pay plus a day off
in lieu.

Mike Brown, London Underground’s
managing director, said: ‘We will be running as many Tube services as
possible on Boxing Day, as well as London’s 700 bus routes and some
river services.’

On top of
the strikes, 15 of Britain’s 25 mainland train operating companies will
shut tracks over the festive period for engineering works.

They include services on four of the
seven main lines, which will be partially shut by engineering works,
adding to disruption.

The West Coast line from London to
Glasgow, First Great Western from London to South Wales and Penzance,
and National Express East Anglia from London to Norwich will all be hit.

But it was better news for air passengers.

British Airways was operating all
its long-haul flights at Heathrow airport as well as the vast majority
of short-haul services. Where possible, BA flew larger long-haul
aircraft to European cities today to increase its seat capacity. The
airline was also hiring extra aircraft to help fly as many passengers
as possible.

The airline said: 'In an attempt to
free up even more seats, we are continuing to encourage customers who
hold bookings to or from Heathrow up until the end of New Year's Eve to
either rebook for a later date or claim a full refund if their journey
is not essential.'

Away from Heathrow, other UK airports had to cancel some short-haul flights due to the continuing bad weather in Europe.

At Birmingham airport, flights to
and from Brussels and Paris were affected, while Aberdeen and Edinburgh
airports warned passengers to expect delays and cancellations.

Elsewhere, parts of Europe were also brought to a standstill by the wintry weather.

Passengers
slept next to a Christmas tree at Charles de Gaulle airport in
Roissy-en-France, outside Paris, as French aviation authorities
cancelled half of the flights because of the freezing conditions.

In Germany, heavy snow also caused problems on the runways.

But some were able to enjoy the picturesque scenes in the UK.

Hardy punters made their way along a
frozen River Cam in Cambridge City centre, while young choristers were
seen walking from King's College School to the chapel at King's
College, Cambridge, this morning for the final rehearsals for the
annual Christmas Eve Festival of Nine Lessons and Carols.

This came after many people gathered to watch the St Paul's Christmas carol service on a large screen in Paternoster Square, last night.

Passengers sleep next to a Christmas tree today at Charles de Gaulle airport, outside Paris

Huge job: Lorries clear snow from the runway at the airport in the western German city of Dusseldorf

THE TRAIN COMPANIES RUNNING AMENDED TIMETABLES

Chiltern was not only operating reduced services but also running shorter trains on some routes.

ScotRail axed a number of services, including Glasgow Queen Street to Anniesland via Maryhill, Glasgow Queen Street to Cumbernauld, Dalmuir to Springburn, Edinburgh to Perth, Newcraighall to Cowdenbeath and Glasgow Central to Ardrossan Harbour.

West Coast main line operator Virgin Trains said some services were subject to delays of up to 60 minutes, with trains to and from Glasgow Central and Manchester Piccadilly most affected.

National Express East Anglia and Stansted Express services were running to a reduced timetable, as were the services operated by the Northern Rail train company which had to axe its York to Sheffield via Pontefract services.

The East Coast train company axed eight London-Leeds services and ran amended services on some other routes.

London Midland had service alterations today, with trains between London and Tring in Hertfordshire not running.